Middle-aged novelist Humbert Humbert rents a room in Charlotte Haze's house after he falls passionately in love with her daughter Lolita. There are three slight problems, though - one, Charlotte is madly in love with him (unrequited, needless to say); two, Lolita is only fourteen; three, there's a very peculiar figure by the name of Clare Quilty who keeps popping up in the most unexpected places (and sporting equally unexpected accents), who seems to have a similarly unhealthy interest in Lolita.